4 Comments to “Free-Issue Death Certificates: PETTIFORD.”

I believe I am a descendant of James Tyner and Polly Pettiford. I am truly impressed with your dutiful research of your ancestors and family. I traced the Tyner family name back to Forsyth County North Carolina and would like to learn a little bit more about them. Any helpful hints? My name is Justin Tyner and I live in Philadelphia.

Hi, Justin, and thanks for checking out ncfpc.net. I’ve hoped that the blog would be useful to others searching for their free colored ancestors. My FPC lines originate in eastern NC, so I haven’t done any direct Forsyth County research on a specific family. I’m assuming that you’ve exhausted all resources available on the internet, such as Ancestry.com, familysearch.com, and fold3.com, as well as online digitized newspapers and other archives. If that’s the case, the next step is unavoidable. You’ve got to visit the North Carolina State Archives. Visiting the county is useful, too, but I’d make the Archives in Raleigh my first stop. Best of luck, and I’ll keep an eye out for Tyners and Pettifords!

Hello Lisa;
I am a descendant of the Edmund and Sarah Carter Pettiford. I have been doing research on my Pettiford ancestors since 1972 . My branch of the Pettiford migrated from NC to the Midwest and settled in Michigan ,Ohio, Illinois and Indiana. I am currently stuck trying to find the death certificate of Ransom Pettiford the son of Edmund and Sarah Pettiford. My last sign of him was in 1910 in NC living with his granddaughter Josephine and her husband George Lindsey. If you find any information on the death of Ransom Pettiford or his wife Mary Scott I would certainly appreciate it.

Norma, thanks for reading my blog and taking time to comment. I’ll keep an eye out for such a record. Is it possible though that they died in that gap between 1910 and NC’s first death certs in 1913? Two of my FPC great-great-great-grandfathers did. I know their death dates only from church records and estate documents.

Meta

Researcher -- and descendant -- of North Carolina's free people of color.
See also my genealogy blog at www.scuffalong.com and www.afamwilsonnc.com, which documents the African-American history of Wilson County NC.